1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to land vehicle wheels, and more specifically to a wheel uniquely adapted for mounting on vehicles such as All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) or the like. In accord with the invention, the wheel is implemented in a method to beneficially control water within agricultural fields.
2. Description of the Related Art
The provision of basic necessities of mankind must be one of the fundamental cornerstones of all civilizations. Failure to adequately provide for citizens will rapidly lead to the downfall of any nation or republic. Among the basic necessities are food, water and shelter. As anyone familiar with the agricultural industry will confirm, the provision of food is all to frequently taken for granted and the technology believed to be simple. In fact, this industry is one which is highly automated and equipment intense, having evolved incredibly over the last one and one-half centuries.
In a modern North American farm, large tractors are most frequently used to cultivate the land and later plant seeds. Similar large equipment will be used after planting, both in the maintenance or cultivation of the crop and also in the harvesting. This equipment converts operations that are extremely labor-intensive into very efficient processes. Where a farmer using manual techniques, or even animal-drawn tools, may only be able to maintain a field of acreage numbering in the tens of acres, modern equipment permits farmers to farm thousands of acres. This automation of farming has resulted in a truly phenomenal reduction of labor.
Nevertheless, one of the challengers of modern agriculture is exactly the size of land under cultivation. In the event that there is a bumper crop and high market prices, the farmer will be rewarded well for his effort. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. In the event of adverse weather or other vagaries of the environment, the farmer may be exposed to financial losses so severe that he is unable to continue with his very livelihood of farming. This problem is compounded by the substantial capital investment required for modern agriculture. The tractors, combines, and other machinery and attachments, buildings such as silos and barns, seed and soil additives and other numerous investments are all substantial. Yet, as with many industries, the automation is essential for most farmers to compete.
With such astounding benefit of automation, and consequent wide-spread implementation of farm machinery, much research and development focuses on new ways to use the equipment already in use by most farmers. Consequently, many agricultural equipment vendors have built upon the tractor as a platform for adding attachments and equipment. This use of the tractor is opportune, owing to the versatility inherent in the machine, and the prevalence upon modern farms. By adding attachments, the need for a complete separate machine is eliminated, thereby lowering the cost of the equipment and also reducing storage space required. Many attachments have been constructed. Nevertheless, these attachments tend to be relatively expensive, which only adds to the substantial capital investment and risk being taken by the farmer.
Among the many facets of modern agriculture, one area which has continued to be troublesome for farmers and to which the present invention is directed is that of moisture control. All plants require adequate moisture for sustained growth, but too much will drown the plants. Several steps are commonly taken to assist with the proper watering of plants. Among these are various above ground and underground irrigation systems, the introduction which is very expensive, but nevertheless justified for many arid regions of the continent. To assist with too much moisture, most farmers rely upon either intrinsic drainage of the soil and evaporation, or, in some cases, a gentle sloping of the field. Unfortunately, sloping will all too frequently lead to excess run-off during short, heavy rainfalls, often referred to as cloud bursts, which may be vital to adequate water supplies within the cultivated field. Evaporation is only helpful when there is sufficient time between rains to permit the soil to dry and aerate. As a result, while still often used, neither sloping nor evaporation yields desired predictable moisture levels.
Yet another approach to the water control, and one which is frequently used in wetter areas, is the provision of large drainage ditches that pass regularly through the land. These ditches provide clear pathways for the drainage of water into lower un-cultivated areas, ranging from holding ponds to rivers and streams. These larger ditches unfortunately require much expense during construction, undesirably block pathways through the fields, and reduce the acreage available for plants. Once these drainage ditches are formed, they are not practically removed. In other words, should the vagaries of the weather result in a drought, the ditches remain, so that even if there is a cloud burst, much of the moisture will be lost to these semi-permanent drainage ditches.
Exemplary of this approach of forming a ditch within a field is U.S. Pat. No. 2,885,800 to Hawkins, the teachings which are incorporated herein by reference, which illustrates an agricultural tractor driving a large wheel traveling at an angle offset to the direction of rotation of the wheel. As aforementioned, such ditches are semi-permanent, being both difficult to create and difficult to remove. Further, the machinery illustrated in the Hawkins patent is relatively expensive, adding undesirably to the capital investment required by the farmer. Another drawback with this type of machine is the need for soil sufficiently stable to permit the large and heavy machinery, such as a tractor or the like with associated attachment, to pass through the field and support the forces applied by the ditching attachment. As may be recognized, fields that are partially submerged may not be passable at all by such a machine. Without being able to get the machine through, the farmer must rely upon evaporation and soil drainage. If these are inadequate to dissipate moisture, then any crops or seeds may be destroyed, or the window for planting crop lost. Other similar trenching machines are illustrated by Dermond in U.S. Pat. No. 4,039,265; Rivard in U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,297; Erickson in U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,903; and Haigh in U.S. Pat. No. 6,336,280; the teachings of each which are also incorporated herein by reference.
As an alternative, U.S. Pat. No. 2,152,212 to Reinkens illustrates a modification to a tractor to provide five packed grooves or ditches in the ground in one pass of a tractor. The tractor attachments comprise various wheel replacements that provide a combination of smooth circular circumferences and circumferential protrusions that are designed to form small grooves centered within each wheel. Unfortunately, these types of wheels are very large and expensive, have little traction within a field, and are relatively difficult to exchange for more standard tractor tires. Furthermore, owing to the essentially continuous ground contact across the entire width of the tractor, such implement may only be used prior to the growth and development of a crop. In other words, the attachment is a useful tool for soil cultivation, but is destructive to crop after the germination of seeds within a field. In view of the substantial investment, difficult installation, poor traction, and limited useful period, the Reinkens machine has not gained commercial acceptance.
Wheels have been developed and refined through many iterations and come in many variations. While the Reinkens wheels described above are formed of circular metal which is relatively smooth along the ground contact surfaces, other wheels have been designed which are not so. One such wheel is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 499,514 to Buchanan, which illustrates a tapered metal wheel described for use on heavy vehicles such as traction engines. This wheel, manufactured from steel, offers the benefit of lighter weight and strong resistance to lateral and crushing strains. While such wheel may have been beneficial with the very large and heavy traction-engines, no indication of use on other vehicles or for other purpose was provided by Buchanan, nor recognized by artisans through the past century.